PODRIJETLO, MITOLOGIJA I VJEROVANJA ROMA
THE ORIGINS, MYTHOLOGY AND BELIEFS OF GYPSIES

Summary/Abstract: This text deals with issues of Gypsy origin, and analysis of their well-known myths and religious beliefs. The problems of this study are manifold: the Gypsy culture is based mostly on legends spread by word of mouth, meaning that their historical events are difficult to define, both in terms of time and content. Furthermore, Gypsies have in their thousands of years of travel come into contact with practically all Indo-European cultures, mythologies and religions. It is therefore hard to determine to what extent some of the phenomena of their culture are original or inherited. There is also the question of their influence on other cultures. The legends of their origins have been analysed as well as theories of experts on the same problem, including the influence of Hinduism, Zoroastrism, Judeo-Christianity, Egyptian and Gnostic traditions on Gypsy myths and religious beliefs. A deep incorporation of the cult of female deity and fertility into the philosophy of life and customs of Gypsies was also identified. This indicates they were the inheritors of the matriarchal world leading to the conclusion that once long ago at least part of the Gypsy tribes were sedentary. In the interpretation of archetypes from Gypsy myths and legends the classification of symbolic schemes and archetypes of G. Durand was used first and foremost, and to a lesser degree Jung’s archetypology.

• Details
• Contents